


All Girls Leave

by Playfulpawing



Category: The Nice Guys (2016)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 02:02:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7134080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Playfulpawing/pseuds/Playfulpawing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Holland March does not need cheering up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All Girls Leave

**Author's Note:**

> That moment when you get distracted from you long form gen fic and have to write fluff. You are winning me over Team Detective Husbands.

Holland had been gone for roughly two hours when the timer on the oven went off, dragging Jack from his day dream and back to the kitchen. Grabbing the oven mitts from their place on the stove’s handle, he carefully removed the casserole, setting it on the counter before standing back to admire his work.

  
The meal laid out before him was fairly unremarkable, though at least it had not come in a TV tray. The lasagne looked fairly tasty and had certainly fared better than the somewhat bland bowl of Green Giant vegetable medley that Jack had desperately over salted in an attempt to give it some type of flavor. He had never been particularly fond of vegetables in general, preferring the sweetness of fruits. It was funny how easily a little manual harvesting could knock all love for a food out of you he thought bitterly; citrus in particular had been on his shit list for almost 20 years now.

  
Of course, the real star of the meal was the chocolate pie currently setting in the fridge. At least, Jack hoped it was setting properly, as his particular version of pie making involved a simple chocolate pudding filling and a Pet-ritz frozen crust.

  
With the table set and the meal laid out Jack began the task of picking a wine. It was a task he was fairly sure was wasted on his anosmic partner as, even if he were capable of appreciating a drink’s subtle bouquet, he would likely still be primarily concerned with its alcohol content. At this thought Jack briefly considered settling for the remnants of the pitcher of Tang Holly had made only a couple days back, before deciding better of it. Better to have Holland drinking on his terms than sneaking sips from his flask all through dinner.

  
Just as Jack lit the candles that served as the table’s center piece, Holland came through the front door. Tossing his keys onto the hall table with a practiced throw Jack had seen many times before, Holland turned and came face to face with the unexpected dinner spread.

  
“The fuck is this?” Holland asked gesturing vaguely at the scene before him.

  
“Dinner?” Jack responded skillfully ignoring the true meaning of the question.

  
“I can see that. But what's with all the candles and shit? Take out not good enough for you?”

  
“I thought it might cheer you up.”

  
“Cheer me up? Why do I need cheering up? Life’s great.” Holland said as he threw himself onto the sofa, pointedly ignoring the meal.

  
“She get off alright?” Asked Jack taking a seat next to Holland. He'd learned from experience that pushing never worked. If you wanted to get Holland to do something, like eat a lovingly prepare meal, you had to let him decide to do it on his own.

  
“Oh yeah. 5 hours of stale snacks and reclined seats in her lap and she’ll be taking the east coast by storm.”

  
“So, everything’s good?” Jack asked again, raising an eyebrow and patting Hollands thigh.

  
“Of course. My amazing daughter got into her first choice school, on a scholarship, no cash out of pocket. This is the day the last 18 years have been building up to.”

  
“Good. I just thought you might be a little upset, New York is a long way away.”

  
At this Holland’s smile fell away and was replaced by, in Jack’s opinion, the most tragic look one could achieve without crying. Holland let out a shaky sigh and leaned over nuzzling his head into the base of Jack’s neck.

  
“My little girl is gone.” He mumbled morosely into Jack’s neck.

  
“I know.” Jack said gently rubbing Holland’s arm, “Can I give you a piece of advice that I have always found to be true?”

  
Holland shifted on to his side in order to bring Jack into his peripheral vision without breaking contact with him.

  
“I have a feeling you're going to tell me anyway, regardless of how I answer the question. It's a thing that you do, unnecessary storytelling.”

  
“The fact of the matter is, all girls leave.” Jack continued ignoring Holland’s remark.

  
“I'm gonna just stop you there,” Holland said, finally sitting back up and making full eye contact with Jack, “because, number one, nothing about that statement makes me feel better and, number two, that's relationship advice. You are giving me relationship advice about my daughter.”

  
“Are you saying you don't have a relationship with Holly?”

  
“God no! Ew. That's just so wrong.” Holland answered with an exaggerated shudder.

  
“March, not all relationships are sexual. In fact, statistically fewer relationships involve sex than don't.”

  
Holland sighed, easily recognizing that Jack’s use of his surname meant this wasn't a subject he could be tricked into dropping, “I know. I'm not that dumb, I was just trying to throw ya off the scent.”

  
“And it worked admirably,” Jack said tossing his partner a smirk that was quickly returned, “but you didn't let me finish. All girls leave and that's normally a bad thing. But what makes this different is that she's your daughter. In this particular case, the fact that she left means you did it right.”

  
“Go on…” Holland urged warming to the topic.

  
“You hit one outta the park. You raised a little girl that's smart, confident, polite and brave. Now she's setting out on her own, to make something of herself, and do you know who gave her the tools to do that? You.”

  
“I'm fairly certain most people would disagree with you on that. I don't exactly fit the bill for ideal parent.”

  
“I'm not gonna disagree with you on that count but I am gonna remind you of something very important. The outside world has its own expectations of how things should be done but that's not what matters. What matters is what your kid thinks, and Holly…well occasional teen mood swings and disappointments aside, she thinks you hung the moon just for her.”

  
“Really?”

  
“That's pretty much what I got out of her goodbye. And honestly, I wouldn't put it past you. Though I would be highly concerned about you on a ladder high enough to reach the moon. Any ladder actually.”

  
“Shut up.” Holland snapped, playfully swatting Jack’s arm, “Shall we get to that dinner?”


End file.
